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Maple Syrup with a Side of Chlorine

My wife and kids motivated me to get my big belly back into the pool after buying a pair of SwiMP3's for Christmas in 2008. I focused on swimming the Peaks To Portland (Maine) 2.4 mile swim in July, 2010, and have added meets and consistent training since then. I mostly swim on my own because I am only able to get together with the local Master's workout group a couple of times a month. I love the backstroke and short free events, and I have a newly discovered fondness for Open Water, having completed my first 10K in Sept '11 and 10 mile in July '12.

My faith in Christ sees me through the exhausting practices and long hours driving to competitions (well, everything day by day, actually), and helps to keep me grounded in the knowledge that the events are only to give me feedback on how my training is progressing. If you're interested, just ask.
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Check out my swimmer info page here.

, February 3rd, 2018 at 09:36 PM (Maple Syrup with a Side of Chlorine)

Today we had our annual 50 x 50 on one minute swim, complete with an energetic playlist that I broadcast through my soundbar. The rules were simple... On your own warm up, then do a swim every minute until we hit 50 repeats. I was able to swim 75 on the first four swims of the first 2 sets of 10, then mix up a bunch of kicking, Colleen, and stroke work as well as some speed play. It's a fun thing that we do as a group, and I ended up swimming 3100 yards over the course of the hour.

, January 20th, 2018 at 09:38 PM (Maple Syrup with a Side of Chlorine)

First meet of the year and my first time checking out this somewhat local meet, held a little over an hour west of home at the Mohonasen High School (Schenectady, NY). It is the 9th year of the event and this year they had a record number of swimmers (58). With my work schedule open for me to attend and my buddy Greg also willing to compete, we headed over with my son.

This is also my first meet in the 40-44 year age group, as my twin sister and I had our birthday this past Thursday.

Warmup: 1400 yds

50 free - 24.67
I felt good during this swim and really picked up the second lap. I think with some additional sprint training I can get faster. Still a goal of mine to get under 24.
-- 200 loosen

100 IM - 1:03.99 (28.64, 35.35)
Felt great on the fly leg, not too coordinated on back, good on breast and tired on the free! I had not worked breast too much since having some knee issues, but have been learning how to swim it more efficiently.
-- 50 loosen

50 fly - 28.60
I was in heat 3, so I had about 3 minutes between the IM and this fly event. I knew it would be close, and my heart rate was sky high. My breakout was good and I worked to finish with good form.
--- 200 loosen

200 free - 2:02.61 (29.53, 31.82, 32.08, 29.18)
I felt really good on this swim. I swam it a little differently than normal so my 3rd was a bit slow. I ended up getting touched out at this finish but made it an interesting race!
--- 300 loosen

All in all a well run meet in a nice facility. The increase in numbers lead to a longer than expected meet, but events progressed smoothly with no issues. We left before the 1000 and 1650. Greg had some great swims (particularly a great race in the 100 breast), and we both enjoyed catching up with old friends and meeting new folks on deck and learning more about how other Masters incorporate swimming into everyday life and some different training ideas. I also made contact with Kathy and Steve, who help to drive some of the ADMS swimming opportunities. I hope to be able to make it back next year!

200 loosen and out
[Masters/Rec/2950 yds/65 min]
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So we have been hammered with cold weather (highs in the teens, windchills -30+] and snow so I have been getting in my drylands! The cars have been starting without too much of an issue. The other plus has been that the pool has finally cooled a bit...it was 84 today but 79 on Tuesday night!

I kinda fell off the blog scene at the end of December, I did compete at the New England SCM champs - discovered that not training for the 200 back makes it a painful swim (went 2:31, should be good enough for a top ten time), the 50 free was not horrible (27high), and my 100 fly felt great (came in at 1:08). Looking to swim near Albany, NY, next weekend, maybe something in Feb, and gearing up for the Harvard meet in March. Complete things with our mini meet the first Saturday of April, and maybe something else that comes up.

I signed up for the New England SCM Champs at WPI in Mass next weekend. I'll see how I am feeling but the plan is to head down for just Saturday:
Event
8 Men 400 SCM
12 Men 200 SCM
14 Men 50 SCM
18 Men 100 SCM

Slowly trying to get back into shape and also competition. I am focusing on New England SCY Champs at Harvard in March, with hopes to swim a full meet Fri-Sun.

, November 25th, 2017 at 01:06 PM (Maple Syrup with a Side of Chlorine)

Enjoyed my 7th year of the Turducken this morning. As always many thanks to swimsuit addict for this great set.

200 swim 100 kick 200 pull
4 x 25 on :45 build

Turducken set: A turducken is a turkey that is stuffed with a duck, which in turn has been stuffed with a chicken. Iíve never tasted one, but I feel like Iíve been reading about them as a novelty food item for at least a decade. The latest article I saw about turducken was not about food at all, but about privacy law, and ever since I read it, the word has been rolling around in my head. So I decided I would assemble stroke turduckens by stuffing a 50 of one stroke into the middle of a 100 of another stroke, then sticking the whole thing into a 200 of yet another stroke. I did four rounds of these; on the first, turkey=fly, duck=back, and chicken=breast; the strokes rotate through the IM thereafter. The set looked like this:

On each round I aimed to do the middle 50 at 200 IM pace; the 50 before it as build and the 50 after it as recovery, and the turkey 100s at the front and back at basic aerobic pace.

I added in a 200 loosen before doing a 200 warm down with the team.
[Masters/Rec/2400 yds/60 min]
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Enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving with a feast at home prepared by my wife, then we traveled to her mom's house and then my brother's for dessert. Lena and I also ran in a 5k Turkey Trot to start off the day.

Today I swam with Tim, Rebecca and Kevin. Larry dropped in from NJ as we all enjoyed today's main course

, November 7th, 2017 at 09:27 PM (Maple Syrup with a Side of Chlorine)

wu: 200 swim/100 kick/200 pull

16 x 100's (did 150's)
1 on 2:30
4 on 2:20
1 on 2:40
3 on 2:10
1 on 2:50
2 on 2:00
1 on 3:00
1 on 1:50
1 on 3:30
1 easy and out

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[Masters/Rec/2900 yds/60 min]

Ran out of time with Greg, Jim, and Beth. The last one should have been a timed one, but we started a little late due to the age group team's practice. I felt good and made all of the descending efforts (even if just barely on the last one).

"The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in His Presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts."
- A. W. Tozer

"Remember God's timing is not our timing and that whenever we try to rush that plan, we will have to bear the consequences of our impatience."
- Pastor Frank Brown (True during a taper!)

ďGod never hurries. There are no deadlines against which he must work.
Only to know this is to quiet our spirits and relax our nerves.Ē
- A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God

"We have to be continually reminded of what we #believe. No belief will automatically remain alive in the mind. It must be fed."
- C.S. Lewis

Hebrews 11:6 (NIV)
Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

Let me paraphrase Eric Liddell from Chariots of Fire: "I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I swim I feel His pleasure." -- I am certainly not the fastest, but I do feel that when I swim I am using a talent that He gave to me.

"I need some time with God and a mental vacation."
- TobyMac

‎"Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want, but the realization of how much you already have."
- Source unknown

Romans 5:8 (KJV)
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

"The grace of God is infinite and beyond our ability to measure. His grace has no beginning and therefore no end."
- A.W. Tozer

Quarters Strong:
Swim a fast quarter length, starting with the last 1/4, then shuffling the quarter to the beginning. For a 50, these would be 12.5; for a 100, these would be 25.

Dolphin Dives in the Shallows
I've seen Mallory Mead list the DDS before in her OW workout thread before: swim to the flags, go under water, skd then turn at wall, skd out past flags.

Mighty Mouse kicks
Mighty Mouse is a variation of the corkscrew drill from Pat's blog that I do while kicking - right arm in front while rotating from back to stomach every 5 or so seconds, in the opposite direction on the second lap -- left arm in front the next time.

Shark Swim
Hold a kickboard between legs and pull 25, then kick FAST 25. Usually the pull is a recovery from the kick.